Free trade in coaches gives all teams an edge

England's Ravi Bopara during the World Cup at the SCG in March.
Reuters

by
Liam Lenten

England recently fired an early salvo ahead of the Ashes, which begins on July 8 with the first Test in Cardiff. The appointment of Trevor Bayliss was endorsed by most cricket scribes in both countries as a good fit. Another leading contender for the position was also Australian – former speedster Jason Gillespie.

That the English turned towards the ol' enemy in search of a coach should be applauded by economists as a triumph of potential for mutual gains from international trade. Put as an economics 101 lesson, Australia has the absolute advantage over England in cricket-coach production.

With that in mind, let us ponder the parallels between trade theory in standard markets for goods and services on one hand, and that of the highly specific market for coaches of national sporting teams on the other.

Trade's importance to the modern global economy cannot be overstated. Yet when things go awry, regardless of the underlying causes, it always seems to cop an unfair share of criticism. While trade may expose small-open economies like Australia to shocks not faced if we were closed, we are still significantly better off with more trade than less – calls for protectionism are unequivocally misguided at best.

Any blanket policy by the administering organisation to not consider hiring a foreign coach effectively constitutes a trade restriction, analogous to import tariffs, quotas, or capital controls – all bad policies we've been trying to repeal for decades via international policy co-ordination.

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While some restrictions generally exist on player eligibility for national teams, with varying strictness (depending on the sport), coaches typically need not have any prior connection to the relevant country. They often do not even have to be the same gender as the players (for example, Alen Stajcic is the current Matildas coach in women's football).

History reveals little surprise at the ECB (England and Wales Cricket Board) hiring an Australian. Bayliss is not the first foreign coach of England: Zimbabwean Duncan Fletcher took the reins way back in 1999. (Some may argue he was kind of English, but no such argument applies for his compatriot Andy Flower, who would later assume the role.)

Indeed, Britain has been an open economy for coaches in multiple sports, often with hilarious results. The appointment of Sven-Göran Eriksson, a Swede, as the first foreign football coach of England in 2001 was characterised thus by the greatest coach England never had, Brian Clough: "At last England have appointed a manager who speaks English better than the players."

North of the border, German Berti Vogts, newly inducted as the inaugural foreign coach of Scotland the following year, was asked at his "unveiling" press conference about having drawn Germany's qualifying group for Euro 2004. His wonderfully Arnie-style dead-pan response: "When we are playing, you can call me Berti McVogts".

In the Antipodes, we also realise the virtues of free trade. Historically in football, Australian-born Socceroos coaches are rare. Even in cricket – our flagship national team – South African Mickey Arthur held the post from 2011 until 2013 before incumbent Darren Lehmann.

In rugby, the ARU appointed Kiwi Robbie Deans to charge the Wallabies from 2008 until 2013; although like Arthur, he appeared to come under more media criticism in the flailing latter stages of his tenure than an identical local coach would have.

Another truism from trade theory is that small economies have a lot more to lose from protectionist policies than large economies. Hence, elite national teams within their specific sport would be expected to hold out longest before hiring a foreigner.

Unlike most of the rest, long-standing world football superpowers Germany, Italy and Spain fit this mould, having always had domestic coaches. The freely importing Dutch (great traders by historical reputation) buck this trend – 22 of the first 27 Netherlands' coaches were foreign, though none in the most recent 17 appointments since the 1978 World Cup. And as we know, they also export a fair few coaches.

Meanwhile, New Zealand can claim likewise for rugby – no foreigner has ever coached the All-Blacks (nor South Africa), though later Wallabies gaffer Ewen McKenzie was supposedly considered in 2012 when Steve Hansen was selected.

A final coach-trade restriction – this statistic – must still be overcome: no team has ever won a football or rugby World Cup with a foreign coach. Nonetheless, should an upset be realised, England will become the first Ashes victor with such. Perhaps on just this one occasion, I'll choose the anti-trade stance.